Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law

Using data collected in China, this study investigates how formal sanctions have developed during this time of social upheaval and change. The role and extent that socio-psychological factors such as class, education and the family environment play in influencing criminal careers will also be analysed.

The study will look at questions relating to criminal careers in the People's Republic of China. At the centre of the study is an analysis of whether and to what extent criminal sanctions – particularly terms of imprisonment in China – affect the development of criminal careers. To this end, the criminal biographies of approximately 1220 prisoners in 13 Chinese correctional facilities were examined on the basis of a standard questionnaire. Moreover, a sample of prisoners were interviewed in order to ascertain, on the one hand, their perception of sanctions and the criminal development processes and, on the other hand, the reality of how sentences are enforced.

By adopting an empirical basis, the study will contribute to international research work on criminal careers. It is intended that the study will allow modern Western hypotheses to not only be tested in an environment of rapid economic, social and political change but also to be analysed against the backdrop of a different culture of criminal law with a different social handling of deviance.

In 2006 the data was collected from the 13 Chinese correctional facilities. Roughly 50 first time detainees and a further 50 repeat prison detainees were interviewed. In total, data was collected from 1184 prisoners. Of this number 648 were first time prison detainees and 483 were women.

In spring of 2007 the data was electronically processed. In addition, an initial evaluation of the data occurred using a mono and/or bivariat method to garner an overview of the data and to check for consistency.

The paper that will publish the findings of the study is structured around 11 chapters. Following on from an introduction and the formulation of the research question (1), the paper will look at criminological theories and hypotheses concerning the development of criminal careers (2). Digressing somewhat, the paper will then illustrate the normative rules of criminal sanctions for repeat offenders and career criminals (3). International criminal career research will then be examined (4), following on from which will be the formulation of the hypotheses drawn from the research project at hand (5). The manner in which the present research was conducted will then be described (6).

At the centre of the analysis of the collected data is the comparison between first time offenders and recidivist offenders with regards to socio-demographic and biographical factors (7) as well as legal-biographical factors of the initial sentencing (8). With regard to recidivism, further issues such as specialisation and sanctioning (9) and also the consequences of imprisonment (10) will be discussed. Finally, the substantial findings will be summarised and possible ideas of prevention will be discussed (11).

The paper was completed in the winter of 2008/2009.